I interview Jim Levine who runs LGRliterary.com, a top shelf literary agency based out of New York. Great company who represented Julien Smith and I for our book, The Impact Equation, and helped us make a great advance on that book.

I ask Jim how he picks who he works with. He says he works with people, not on specific books. Jim's answer is that he picks people who are willing to work with his team, who work hard, because no book is ever polished right out of the gate.

I ask if most people bring him a mess and not an amazing book. He says MOST people do deliver "an embarrassing draft" and that's what he wants. That's what the team can work with.

Do you push people past the "has to be perfect" hurdle? Yes, absolutely. Jim sees himself as a coach who helps people work through the deadlines.

I ask Jim to share who is a favorite client of his.

Jim finishes by saying that the death of publishing has been greatly exaggerated. There's plenty of great work going on in publishing and lots of great books and companies out there. He loves unearthing more topics he's curious about than anything else.